Sterilisation
by Gooble208
Summary: When the Covenant destroyer, Thunderous Conclusion goes missing, a carrier full of the Covenant's finest are sent to recover it. But what they find will change thier lives forever...
1. Prolouge

Sterilisation 1

Aboard the Covenant super carrier, Unyielding Faith. Year: 2546

Briefing hall

"My Brothers, another order has come through from the most high and holy Prophet of Truth!" Shipmaster Zadun Retonamee's voice echoed grandly through the hall and reached the ears of every Sanghelli in the cavernous room. Towering high above the central stage was a massive hologram of himself, facing four ways at once, and it was this hologram that every Sanghelli in the ship looked up at.

Though the scene was glorious, the message was grave. A Covenant Destroyer, Thunderous Conclusion, had gone missing in the depths of its patrol route and Retonamee told his warriors just that. It was of the highest importance, Truth had said, that the vessel may be recovered and the origins of its disappearance discovered. "Contact with the ship's crew was lost three cycles ago and we have been tasked to find it!" A roar went up within the ranks of soldiers below the stage. Retonamee frowned to himself at this reaction to bad news but consoled himself with the fact that the order was direct from Truth, and that was a cause for celebration.

Deep within the masses of Sanghelli majors and zealots, squad leader Lnako Twegnee felt a cold shudder through his muscular body. Whatever the outcome of this mission, it wouldn't be pretty. As the various ranks returned to their tasks to enter slipspace, Lnako slunk back to his post at the barracks, unconsciously dreading the mission ahead...

Saruli System, Sanghelli space docks, 3 cycles beforehand.

"Docksmaster Tanomee? The Thunderous Conclusion has left repair bay three. Waste is being transported to the lower furnace." A lower ranking Sanghelli stooped, almost grovelling behind Navaro Tanomees's left foot. Navaro's disregard for those under his command was almost legendary in Sanghelli community places, and the messenger did not want to find out what Tanomee's rage felt like. "Did I give those orders Messenger?" Tanomee thundered.

"N-no Docksmaster, but Major Gelahee thought the higher furnace was full!" The messenger thought about adding "don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger." but wisely bit his tongue. "Tell Major Gelahee that..." Navaro started but was interrupted by his Ops officer, sitting further down the bridge.

"Uh, sir? We've lost contact with both furnaces and engineering." "What?" asked Tanomee stupidly. He whirled around and strode to the Ops station. "Most of lower decks sir. No contact at all." "Try to raise docking crews." ordered Tanomee. "Checking sir" responded Ops. "No sir they are not replying." "What by the gods is going on?" Tanomee said to himself." "Hold on sir, I'm getting something from the barracks. They are reporting a large disturbance..." The officer held his earpiece closer. "What? What? ...No I can't hear you. Can you just..." Ops let go of his earpiece and looked at Tanomee. "They just cut off sir, but I could definitely hear screaming in the background." the officer glanced at the messenger, who returned his worried look.

"Alright" said Tanomee. "I'm ordering all personnel of the docks. Sound the alarm!" "Yessir" said Ops and entered a few command into his console. A wailing alarm spread through the ships insides and a recorded voice told whoever was left onboard to evacuate. The few bridge crew stood, and began to file out the door. The Ops officer stood, but Tanomee pushed him back into his seat. "Hold on, I want you to check the rest of the ship. See if anyone else responds."

Suddenly, a loud THUD echoed around the area in and around the bridge. The messenger, the last to leave with the bridge crew darted back inside the bridge and slammed the door shut. Both the officer and the Docksmaster turned around. "Something. Outside the door." The messenger gasped. "Don't open it!" "What..." Tanomee started but shut up when a huge BANG resounded through the door.  
"By the Prophets!" wailed the messenger. Another loud BANG came from the door and a large dent appeared in the centimetre thick metal. BANG! A crack appeared, running down the middle of the door. Tanomee looked despairingly at his fellow Sanghelli, realising that he should have led a better life, commanded his forced better, and that these two soldiers were the last people he'd ever know. A final blow knocked the off its hinges, and the last thing Tanomee heard was the Ops officer's scream, and a wet slithery sucking sound coming from all around them...


	2. The Discovery

Sterilisation 2

Aboard Covenant holy city High Charity, Year: 2546, 23rd age of Reclamation.

Hierarch's Quarters.

The Prophet of Truth awoke to hear knocking on the door of his chamber. He sat up and slipped on his robes. He slouched over to his anti gravity chair and activated it (Due to the biology of the San 'Shyuum, they always appear to be slouched).

Truth tapped a control and the door slid open, to reveal the Prophet of Mercy. Much older than Truth, Mercy was paler, almost gray to Truth's tanned brown, and had hair running rouge from his chin.

"What?" said Truth irritably. "The _Unyielding Faith _is on its way to _Thunderous Conclusion_'s last known position. The Saruli System." croaked Mercy. "They report engine coil troubles, but nothing serious." "The _Faith?_ Ah, the Recovery Carrier." mused Truth.

Mercy paused, and then asked: "Do you think the reports of the Parasite near the system are of concern?" "No." Truth replied. "And if there is truth to the stories, then the _Faith_ can handle it." "A single Carrier?" rebutted Mercy. "A Carrier filled with the best Sanghelli we have." countered Truth. "I hope you are right, Truth." sighed Mercy. "I really do..."

Saruli System.

The darkness of space was ripped apart as a swirling slipspace portal warped into being.From it emerged a massive craft, a smooth, colossal titan. The _Unyielding Faith _was like any other Covenant Super Carrier. A bulbous head was connected to the rest of the ship by a long, thin neck. The middle section was a bulged circle, and it trailed a pointed tail that protected the huge engine exhausts.

On the bridge, Shipmaster Zadun Retonamee strode to the holo-tank. The tank displayed the relatively small solar system called Saruli. With only five orbiting planets around a single young star, none of the planets were inside the habitable zone, and the closest was a desert planet devoid of water called Saruli IV.

"Position?" called Zadun. The NAV officer, Pylar Mazumee turned and called out. "Slipspace jump perfectly on target Sir. We are moving into orbit around Saruli III now." "Good." Responded Zadun. "My complements to you, Pylar." "Shipmaster."

The bright light of Saruli Epsilon emerged from the edge of Saruli III and illuminated the _Unyielding Faith_, and something else...

"Shipmaster!" called the Ops officer, O'ran Natumee. "Picking up massive debris field on forward sensors!" Zadun turned. He had known O'ran since their childhood, and had never seen the aging Sanghelli so rattled.

"Spectropic analysis shows the debris to be of Covenant origin!" "There was an outpost station here. Could this be what is left of it?" wondered Zadun. "Picking up signal echo from the field, Sir. The ID is from the Outpost station. That _was_ the station." croaked O'ran. "But the station would have had sentry ships!" protested Zadun. "By the gods, what could have obliterated it like that?!"

"Shipmaster? The debris trajectory shows that the point of the explosion was _inside _the station. It could have self-destructed." "There is no Human threat in this sector of space, what could have caused them to self-destruct like that?" Zadun persisted.

"Maybe mutiny?" remarked one of the other Bridge crew. "There was a large compliment of Kig Yar onboard according to the logs." said O'ran, peering at the Shipmaster. "No. Kig Yar are no threat to Sanghelli." deadpanned Zadun. "Still, Shipmaster, with no evidence either way, it _is _a possibility..." reminded Pylar. O'ran turned back to his station.

"Shipmaster? Picking up additional debris from two places near the station." "What are the IDs?" "Analysing... IDs are from two Cruisers. The _Twilight Compunction_ and the _Heretics be damned. _It appears that whatever caused the destruction of the Outpost reached these two ships as well."

"Move the _Faith_ into orbit, but keep clear of the debris. COM? Send a message to High Charity containing my report. We will await orders from the Hierarchs concerning our next move." ordered Zadun. "I will return to my quarters. Notify me when the Hierarch's response arrives."

END


	3. Finding the Conclusion

Sterilisation 3

Saruli System, 2546

Zadun Retonamee awoke to the sound of his portable signal unit rattling on his desk. He rolled off his stiff mattress and stood. Striding over to the desk, he felt the Unyielding Faith's engines rumble, and the deck tilted slightly.

The signal unit rattled again, returning his attention to the desk. He grabbed the signal unit and depressed the send button. "Speak." He said.

"Shipmaster." It was O'ran. "The hierarch's orders have arrived. We are to continue our task to locate the Thunderous Conclusion. A recovery craft has been sent to analyse the wreckage of the station, and to bring it back home."

"Very good O'ran." Responded Zadun. "I will return to the bridge at once. Rouse any other bridge crew not already present." "Shipmaster, the entire bridge crew have been waiting for you since you left." Retonamee smiled to himself. Years of training had taught his crew to be ready for anything. On the bridge, O'ran smiled too, knowing exactly what his friend would think.

On the bridge activity was everywhere as Zadun marched in. Various Sanghelli called out to him as he passed. "We are leaving orbit and heading further out into the system." "Shipmaster? A strong signal echo is coming from Saruli IV." "ID is confirmed as the Thunderous Conclusion, Sir." Retonamee paused to let it all sink in, and then began firing off orders.

"NAV? Plot a course for low orbit of Saruli IV. COM, send out a reply to the Hierarch's message. Tell them we thank them for their prompt in answering our call, and inform them that we may have found the Thunderous Conclusion. No certainties though." Zadun whirled around. "O'ran? Give me a constant update on that signal echo. I want to know exactly where it is coming from."

The Unyielding Faith shuddered as her engines were pushed to full power. She spun around and plotted a course directly for Saruli IV.

Deep belowdecks, in a communal prayerhall.

Lnako Twegnee, surrounded by about 100 other praying Sanghelli, felt the ship's manoeuvres and leaned slightly to the right as he knelt. The gee forces pushed him back to the left, then subsided. He was no Fleetmaster, but he knew when a ship performed something like that, it was very important. He stood and marched in the direction of the barracks, and his post.

Bridge of the Unyielding Faith, one hour later.

O'ran studied his station carefully. The signal echo was much stronger now. He could almost pinpoint where it was...There! "Shipmaster!" he called. Zadun turned away from the holo-tank busy displaying the Hierarch's recommendations and looked curiously at him. "The signal echo points to the surface of Saruli IV, Sir. Apparently the Thunderous Conclusion made landfall.

"Alright brothers!" roared Zadun, spinning around to meet the eyes of everyone of the Bridge crew. "Looks like we are in for a tough time in the desert. I hope you bought your buckets and spades (or whatever Sanghelli use to dig and hold things in). He looked at O'ran. "Send in the ranks."

END


	4. Landfall

Sterilisation 4

The surface of Saruli IV, 2546, 23rd age of Reclamation

The landscape of Saruli IV was bleak. A desert planet almost completely devoid of water. Only the small dust lizards and porcupine mice lived here, feeding on the water deep underground. Sometimes they would return to the surface to hunt. On one such occasion, the life forms on Saruli IV looked up to see something that would change their insignificant lives forever.

A sonic boom pealed across the sky as the Covenant Carrier Unyielding Faith screamed into the atmosphere. It flew low, almost touching the highest sand dunes and decimating them in its wake. The behemoth slowed to a stop over a particular flat plain.

On the underside, a huge purple beam spouted fourth, and speared into the ground. A large platform floated down the beam in slow motion, being carried by the gravity lift this beam now so obviously was.

After the platform had landed, tiny figures began to drop down the lift. Vehicles started to follow the new beings. As both parties arrived on the surface, they spread out in a formation with military precision. The Covenant had landed.

On the platform, an elite minor in bright blue armour stood. A'zur Eframee looked around at the desolation before him. He stared at the sand dunes, the mesas, and the way the Unyielding Faith almost blended in with the rest of the landscape. A single seat hover-sled sped past. A ghost. "So this is where I'm staying for the next few cycles." He thought. He cursed under his breath and stalked off.

Among the second wave of troops to come down the gravity lift was a higher ranked Sanghelli warrior, a Field Master in gold armour by the name of Ektar Tamalee. He landed and saw what A'zur had seen. But his outlook was quite different.

"Alright, mighty warriors of the Covenant! Looks like our prowess will be wasted on another easy victory!" he ordered the ghosts off the recon the location of the Thunderous Conclusion and strode to his tent busy being erected by a team of Unggoy.

Major L'nako Twegnee led his flight of ghosts over a massive sand dune, and shot down the other side. His squad consisted of five lower elite Minors, and one other Major, his second in command. The ghosts sped across a titanic plain and climbed another dune on the other side.

According to his onboard computer, the Thunderous Conclusion would be resting on the next side of the dune. But when he reached the top, L'nako saw something he most definitely did not expect.

The first thing he saw was the smoke snaking into the air. Then he saw the ship. Or what was left of it. Lying in a crumpled heap of twisted purple metal, the Thunderous Conclusion was barely recognizable as a ship. He took out a field recorder and sent the data on its way.

Bridge of the Unyielding Faith

Zadun Retonamee paced in circles, waiting for the recon squad to report. Most of the bridge crew were not present. They were busy supervising the construction of a campsite around the base of the gravity lift. Only he and O'ran Gelahee were present. The Com station chimed as Zadun passed it. He whirled around and attended to the station.

"A recording?" he wondered. "It was supposed to be a written report..." O'ran joined him at the station and Zadun opened the recording. They stared, speechless, as the film panned across the devastated remains of the Thunderous Conclusion.

"Gather the soldiers. We need to find the data recorder of the Conclusion. Find out what happened. Send the report to the Hierarchs and notify them of our actions."

END


End file.
